April 14, 2016

How Ram temple movement is dusted up by Subramanian Swamy & co, ahead of UP polls

Prerna Katiyar, ET BureauMar 27, 2016, 04.32AM IST

(It is only for political…)

The early 1990s changed India beyond recognition when Reservation,
Reforms and Ram hit the main stage one after the other. Almost a quarter
century later, as India waits for a promised next round of reforms and
the reservation debate is once again playing out, Ram too is slowly
making a comeback.

The highly volatile issue of whether there should be a proper Ram temple
on the disputed site — where a mosque was brought down by Sangh Parivar
volunteers called kar sevaks in 1992 — is pending before the Supreme
Court. But the Ram temple brigade is losing no time in pushing the issue
to the fore, time and again refreshing the memory of the court, all the
while hoping that an all-powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which
is dreaming of coming to power in Lucknow, will stand by its side.
At the centre of the action is Subramanian Swamy. The BJP
national executive member, who tweeted — "My motto for 2016 Ram Mandir
Movement: With you if you are willing; without you if you are not; and
in spite of you if you oppose"— recently addressed a seminar in New
Delhi on the Ram temple issue.

"It is simple," he told the audience full of temple enthusiasts.
"Muslims can offer their namaz anywhere but for Hindus, a
Pran-Pratisthit Vigraha (deity) is a living entity and a deity (Ram
Lalla) can hold the property. So all the property vests with the
presiding deity and Ram is the owner.... We hope to start work on the
temple by year-end," Swamy said. His voice was separately echoed by
Union minister Kalraj Mishra, who felt the construction of the temple at
Ayodhya is only a matter of time.The Drumbeats
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the RSS organised at least two
talks in the national capital this year to spread "awareness" on the Ram
temple. And the social media is being put to use to spread the message
far and wide. The social media wing of the RSS organised a seminar on
"Ram Mandir: Emerging Scenario" in Delhi last month. "We Hindus offer
Lord Krishna's package to Muslims — give us 3 temples and keep 39,997
masjids. I hope Muslim leaders don't become Duryodhans," Swamy tweeted
again. The VHP has also pledged to organise a Ram Mahotsav in April
just ahead of Ram Navami — when Lord Ram is believed to have come back
to Ayodhya — and construct one temple in every village of the country.
The wing claims it is a routine affair. "To say that the spotlight is
back on the Ram temple issue would be wrong. This issue has never been
out of the mind of the Hindu rashtra," says Surendra Jain, VHP
spokesperson.
A section of the VHP even suggested the name of
Yogi Adityanath, member of Parliament from Gorakhpur, to be named the
BJP's CM candidate for the UP 2017 polls, hoping that the construction
of the temple will be easier under his stewardship. Adityanath has long
been a champion for a Hindu rashtra, through his hardline stance on beef
and dos and don'ts for non-Hindus.

Vinay Katiyar, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and founder-president of Bajrang Dal,
says, "There might be some delay but the Ram temple will surely be
built on the site. We too are waiting for the Supreme Court verdict."
Muslim community leaders are not blinking either. "To say that
construction of a Ram temple may start soon when the matter is before
the court is a contempt of the judicial system of the country. All these
talks are to polarise the votes. Muslims form a considerable part of
the electorate in UP as well as West Bengal. The BJP is raising the
issue ahead of the elections for political gains," says prominent Sunni
cleric Farangi Mahali.Politics Around Temple Fire
There is no shortage of political pundits in New Delhi and Lucknow who
believe the fresh surge has got to do a lot with the UP assembly polls
slated for 2017. The BJP came to power in the Centre largely because of
the sweep it effected in UP — the party and its ally Apna Dal won 73 out
of the 80 seats. But since then it has been downhill for the BJP in the
state, and as per current indications, the final war for the high seat
in Lucknow is going to be between the ruling Samajwadi Party and the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Jai Shankar Pandey is a former MLA
from Faizabad and the SP district president. In his 80s now, Pandey has
seen it all when it comes to the temple movement. He is certain that all
the dust being kicked up now is aimed at building a momentum towards
the state polls.
"BJP aur Modi ko na toh Ram se sarokaar hai, na
Ram Rajya se aur na Ram mandir se (The BJP and Modi are neither
concerned with Ram, nor his ideals, nor temple). Come elections and the
issue is raked up by the BJP to polarise votes. Only the BJP knows when
the Ram temple will move out of their election manifesto," says Pandey.

Expectedly, the BJP rubbishes the criticism that it is playing with the
temple fire. "It has become a fashion for the Opposition parties to
link the Ram temple issue with (forthcoming) elections," says BJP
national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain. He points to the party's
commitment to the Palampur resolution of 1989 that consolidated the
Ayodhya movement. "There is no doubt that we want a Ram temple," says
Hussain, adding, "We have always talked about the issue. Ram temple is
not a poll issue for the BJP but a matter of national pride."

Lallu Singh, Lok Sabha member from Faizabad, says one shouldn't read
too much into the fact that the PM hasn't spoken out on the Ram temple
issue lately.

"Construction of Ram temple is neither a matter of politics nor
religion. It is a matter of our shradhha sotra Ram. And just because PM
Modi is not commenting on the topic does not mean the Opposition can
insinuate our motives towards elections," he says.
Hashim Ansari, one
of the oldest stakeholders in the legal wrangle over the issue,
believes every party has played its role in stoking the Ayodhya fire.
"The Congress and the BJP have together been telecasting this Ram temple
telefilm. It is for political mileage that they call the masjid site
Ram's janmbhoomi (birthplace)," says the nonagenarian. His son
Mohammed Iqbal Ansari, who has taken over the charge of the litigation,
joins and makes an impassioned case. "These are just noises before the
forthcoming elections. We are used to such calls of Ram Lalla hum
aayenge; mandir yahi banayenge (Lord Ram we will come and build the
temple at the site)," says Iqbal.
"All these are big people who
are behind the dispute — they work like the mafia. The dispute was
almost settled in 2010 (referring to the high court judgment). But these
leaders want to keep it alive not just for political gains but also for
usurping the land.
The main dispute is regarding ownership of
the vast land," Iqbal claims. Retired regional director of the
Archaeological Survey of India KK Muhammed, who was part of the
excavations that the high court ordered in 2003, says, "Excavations at
the site have proved that Babri masjid was built over a Hindu temple. We
found not one but 14 pillars of a Hindu temple and several slabs that
are used in the making of a temple," he told ET Magazine. The court,
however, did not comment on the accuracy of the ASI report, as it
thought it would not be advisable nor expedient to do so.Ground Zero
The 8 km drive into Ayodhya from Faizabad doesn't betray any of the
surrounding controversies. The temple town is a maze of alleys that
remind one of the ghats of Varanasi, just that instead of the Ganga, you
catch glimpses of the Sarayu here.
But the area surrounding the
disputed site is crowded with devotees who come from the length and
breadth of India. Like Anurag Patel, who has come from Gujarat, "We have
come from Gujarat to visit Ram ki nagari (the city of Ram)...Who can
refute that Ayodhya is Ram's land?" Patel asks.
Move to the
workshop at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya, and one sees work in full swing on
individual pieces of the proposed temple. The workshop has stacks of
pillars and slabs with intricate carvings covered with cloth. "All we
need is 24-48 hours to assemble the pieces. You can see for yourself at
the workshop. We are just waiting for the Supreme Court order," says
Ramkumar Dar, priest of Dashrath Gaddi Chauburji temple.

Hazari Lal, one of the kar sevaks who brought down the mosque, still
basks in the "heroic act" they did. "I almost lost one arm after the
demolition. But we have no regrets," Lal says. "It (temple construction)
is a door-die situation for us," he says, "Pyaar se kaam ho jaye toh
achha hai (It would be better if the matter is resolved amicably)," he
adds. Lal adds that although they hit "success" in 1992, they had made a
couple of futile attempts before the defining year.
It's been
more than two decades since that fateful day of December 6, and two of
the towering personalities who led from the front are today battling
political oblivion.
LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are part of
the BJP's Margdarshak Mandal, but have offered little insight into how
to settle the issue. Ashok Singhal, the man who rustled up the winds in
favour of demolition, passed away recently. Uma Bharti, whose fiery
speeches helped the said Hindutva cause, is today a Union minister.
"I will always be proud of being part of the Ram temple movement. The
day the Allahabad High Court gave its judgement and assigned the central
dome to Hindus for the construction of the temple was historic and gave
our movement a legal validity."
On being told that the high
court judgment has been challenged and the matter is now before the apex
court, she said, "It is only a matter of land dispute now which even
the court agrees can be solved through dialogue. The VHP can't be
stopped from what it is doing," the minister for water resources, river
development and Ganga rejuvenation told ET Magazine.
Mulayam Singh Yadav who, as the CM, ordered cops to fire at the frenzied kar sevaks, recently said he regrets that decision.
On a positive note, despite the discordant voices, each party is ready
to accept a Supreme Court verdict whatever it may be. It has been five
years since the Supreme Court put a stay on the high court judgment that
sought to divide the land into three parts. It is now up to the apex
court to put to rest one of the most heated issues that has divided the
nation.

Map of L K Advani's Rath Yatra of 1990

About Us / Disclaimer

This is a collaborative space run by an informal collective of people from across India and elsewhere. The blog was started many years ago under the aegis of South Asia Citizens Web. All web content placed here is done in public interest; it may be freely used by people for non commercial purposes. Please remember to give credit to original copyrighted sources and seek permission for further use.Disclaimer:Posting of content here does not constitute endorsement by the Communalism Watch Cooperative.